J. K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, said, “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default.” Everyone should experience failure in their life, especially while they are in their teen and young adult years. Here’s the thing that a lot of us, myself included, don’t understand – failing doesn’t necessarily mean you failed. Sometimes it means that you need to try again or that you’re better at something else or that maybe it’s just not meant to be.

If everyone excelled at everything, no one would know what they were truly good at or liked. Failing is a part of life and that’s a beautiful thing. I failed to make the cheer team my sophomore year of high school. Because of that failure, I tried out and made the dance team and had the best time on it for the rest of my high school years. Failing can sometimes be a sign from God.

My parents used to tell me that they wanted me to fail at something. Hearing that really confused me as a kid, but then I figured it out. When you fail at something, it sucks. That’s just the truth about it. How you cope with failure is what matters. If you go your whole life without ever failing at something, then when something goes wrong and you’re twenty-something years old and living on your own, you aren’t going to know what to do. You’ll panic and that is the worst thing you can do. If you experience it while you’re younger, you’ll bounce back quicker. You’ll see that the world keeps spinning and there is still so much for you to do.

I’m not saying to fail a class or a test, but if you do, it’ll be okay, eventually. The important thing is that you try your best. Try your best in every area and aspect in your life. If you fail, then at least you can say you gave it your all.

You gain five things from failures: experience, knowledge, resilience, growth, and value.

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” — Michael Jordan

“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.” - Denis Waitley

“You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.” - Johnny Cash